Ken Shamrock vs. Sabu

[3.0] "A very low energy match honestly for the two who are involved here but sadly that seems to be a running theme with Ken's TNA title run. But here especially Ken just seems really...checked out honestly. There's not much a sense of urgency to anything he does or when he's taking moves and Sabu is sort of just working around Ken it feels like. And Sabu does feel like he's trying his best, he gets some submissions in (for a stipulation that is very poorly conveyed as one would assume you maybe could win by submission in this but no, it's just a reference to Ken's submission game against Sabu's death defying talents and it's more like a ladder match really) especially since people forget that Sabu actually has a very good grapple game when he wants to show it off, he hilariously throws Ken around on the outside into one of the dancer cages by the stage where said dancer just smiles and waves at Ken, and taking a very brutal table bump that cuts up his back in sickly fashion. But it's really not enough to make up for just how nothing a lot of what's going on feels. Add on top of it all a very incredibly telegraphed and weak finish, where you get told very early in the match about security in the back being told to go home early which tells you that Jarrett or someone is gonna interfere and then Malice comes out to....steal the title? Which he acts like that means he won? Why? Only heightened by how long Ken has to stand on the ladder looking really dumb when he can easily just tug the belt down the whole time. Just a complete disappointment to an already disappointing match where you'd hope it'd be like a Tasmanian Devil being thrown into a blender with a Honey Badger to duke it out in angry fashion but instead it's all just kind of clunky and leaves me feeling very meh, as has been the case (or worse! ) for basically all of this Ken '02 TNA run."

[3.0] "An okay at best match for most of it, with a terribly fumbled finish. I can see the intrigue in a ladder match between Sabu and Ken Shamrock, kind of, but it turns out that it doesn't go together particularly well at all, leading to a decidedly clunky match that didn't ever go together. Worse than that, though, the ending is completely botched, with music playing mis-timed, a black out gimmick that doesn't work, and the awkward way that Malice runs out to interrupt. Just a total awkward anti-climax that makes it feel like the spirit of the dying days of WCW are well alive."

[4.0] "A disappointing way to end the show. I know they were building throughout the night to Jarrett stealing the title, but the finish wasn't executed well and ended up feeling anticlimactic. The match itself didn't set the place on fire either - it was a clash of styles, and these two really shouldn't be working together - but it wasn't a total disaster. We still got a few decent moments, like Sabu going through a table."

[3.0] "As far as innovative TNA ideas go, not that bad, but it didn't work here as Sabu went for pinfalls a few times and only had 1 submission hold to apply over and over again. The best spot was ruined by camera work, as they didn't catch Shamrock rolling off a table, so it looks like Sabu just sentons an empty table of his own volition. Then the match gets canceled due to interference. Tbh I don't mind it that much, as it's clever. Overall the match is only good for a laugh."

[4.0] "This was an alright match, but not really good; kinda disappointing after Sabu's great debut for the company the previous week. The idea of this stipulation fine, but ends up being really dumb. I'm just getting tired of Ken Shamrock at this point; none of his matches are actually good here in '02 TNA. Sabu rules; he got a gnarly gash on his back from a table. The match has a non finish as Malice fucking comes out, climbs the ladder, and steals the damn title."

[2.0] "The stipulation is curious, but even Sabu coudn't understand it, going for a pin a couple of times. The match inself wasn't bad, a cool mix of styles, even if the submission part wasn't much interesting, but the finish ruined it all. Why having this match if they are going to do that finish? The table spot was so cool, but to be followed by a Malice run in with Shamrock's music playing... Bad booking decision."

[5.0] "The muddled nature of the stipulation helped make this an interesting watch. An entertaining enough match for what it is."

[6.0] "This was an interesting clash of styles. The mix of stipulations was weird though I think Shamrock and Sabu worked well within those rules. The ending was kinda crap though I understand it was meant to keep Sabu strong while keeping the belt on Shamrock."

[7.0] "For once Russo heaping on multiple stipulations didn't bother me, since it kind of made sense for this match. The idea of a hardcore guy against a pure fighter is always interesting to me and they did a fairly good job playing it out here. Shamrock was actually a good champion and it's a shame for TNA they couldn't keep him longer."